{"id":1574,"date":"2010-01-01T23:15:28","date_gmt":"2010-01-02T04:15:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=1574"},"modified":"2021-06-04T13:14:22","modified_gmt":"2021-06-04T17:14:22","slug":"the-wings-of-the-sphinx","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/1574","title":{"rendered":"The Wings of the Sphinx"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Wings of the Sphinx<\/em><\/a> (2006\/2009) Andrea Camilleri<\/a> translated by Stephen Sartarelli<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Inspector Salvo Montalbano and his girlfriend Livia are again on the outs. And his day begins with a call from Catarella, about a dead body. And if you’ve read an inspector Montalbano book, you know that no phone call from Cat can lead anywhere good.<\/p>\n

Montalbano is–if anything–getting even crankier as he ages, but his sardonic humor is in rare form.<\/p>\n

In the station’s parking lot he pulled up alongside a Ferrari. Who could it belong to? Surely a cretin, whatever the actual name on the registration.
\n…
\nNaturally, the fortyish man who came into his office had a different name from the one cited and written down by Catarella: Francesco Di Noto. Decked out in Armani, top-of-the-line loafers worn without socks, Rolex, shirt open to a golden crucifix suffocating in a forest of unkempt, rampant black hair.<\/p>\n

He was surely the idiot tooling around in the Ferrari. But the inspector wanted confirmation.<\/p>\n

“My compliments on your beautiful car.”
\n“Thanks. It’s a 360 Modena. I’ve also got a Porsche Carrera.
\nDouble cretin with fireworks.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And then there was this exchange:<\/p>\n

“Is that all you can tell me doctor?”
\n“No.”
\n“Look, Doctor. I haven’t got time to waste, either.”
\n“I found two things.”
\n“Are you planning to tell me in monthly installments?”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That sounds an awful lot like someone I know.<\/p>\n

So in addition to the dialog, anything else about the book I liked? Yes. <\/p>\n

As usual, there were long sensual descriptions of meals. Which made me hungry, regardless of the actual state of my stomach. <\/p>\n

And of course the mystery, which was (again as usual) both fascinating and depressing. Fascinating, because I really enjoy the complex mysteries Andrea Camilleri creates, and depressing, because the amount of corruption that is taken as business as usual never fails to astound me.<\/p>\n

The one thing I did find unusual is he actually references Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi (not by name per se, but in ways that would be recognized by Italians are are pointed out in the translators notes at the end of the book). Although most of the books mention the political corruption endemic to Italy, this book struck me as a bit more blunt about it than past books. But that could just be me.<\/p>\n

I really enjoy this series and highly recommend. My only caveat is that this books are set in Italy, and as mentioned, the corruption that is taken as a given may come as a bit of a shock to American readers, as will the somewhat direct and earthy language used by Montalbano. But once you get used to that, this really is an excellent series, and one I thoroughly enjoy.
\nRating:8\/10<\/strong> <\/p>\n

published by Penguin<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Wings of the Sphinx (2006\/2009) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli Inspector Salvo Montalbano and his girlfriend Livia are again on the outs. And his day begins with a call from Catarella, about a dead body. And if you’ve read an inspector Montalbano book, you know that no phone call from Cat can lead […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[8,291,42,38],"tags":[94,95,54,435],"class_list":["post-1574","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mystery","category-paper","category-police","category-translated","tag-andrea-camilleri","tag-inspector-montalbano","tag-italy","tag-stephen-sartarelli"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-po","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5241,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/5241","url_meta":{"origin":1574,"position":0},"title":"The Shape of Water","author":"Michelle","date":"May 3, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"The Shape of Water (1994\/2002) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli This is the first Inspector Montalbano story, and was supposed to be the only Montalbano story, however, the character got away from the author, and we now have many books to enjoy. \u201cInspector Montalbano? This is Mr. Luparello.\u201d \u201cWhat\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Mystery"","block_context":{"text":"Mystery","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/mystery"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/SHape-of-Water.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4358,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/4358","url_meta":{"origin":1574,"position":1},"title":"The Wings of the Sphinx","author":"Michelle","date":"January 29, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"The Wings of the Sphinx (2006\/2009) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli Somehow, I managed to read this book and the one that comes before it out of order. Which was unusually problematic because events in the previous book--events involving Montalbano and Livia--had a tremendous influence upon events in this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/01\/Wings-Sphinx.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4364,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/4364","url_meta":{"origin":1574,"position":2},"title":"The Track of Sand","author":"Michelle","date":"January 31, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"The Track of Sand (2007\/2010) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli This is another story that is not a particular favorite. Montalbano and Livia are still fighting (of course), but the book opens with a really horrible scene, the discovery of a dead horse by Montalbano. A horse that has\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Mystery"","block_context":{"text":"Mystery","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/mystery"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/Track-of-Sand.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5245,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/5245","url_meta":{"origin":1574,"position":3},"title":"The Terra-Cotta Dog","author":"Michelle","date":"May 6, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"The Terra-Cotta Dog (1996\/2004) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli The second Montalbano book was, according the Camilleri, was supposed to be the last. I felt less than fully satisfied with how the figure of Montalbano had come out. I felt as if I had painted an incomplete portrait of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Terra-Cotta-Dog.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4166,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/4166","url_meta":{"origin":1574,"position":4},"title":"Treasure Hunt","author":"Michelle","date":"November 4, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Treasure Hunt (2010\/2013) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli Things are boring in Vigata for Inspector Montalbano and the police, until an elder brother and sister allow their religious mania to push them over the edge. But even that event doesn't hold Montalbano's interest for long, which is probably why\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Mystery"","block_context":{"text":"Mystery","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/mystery"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/Treasure-Hunt.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":12863,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/12863","url_meta":{"origin":1574,"position":5},"title":"The Safety Net","author":"Michelle","date":"May 15, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"The Safety Net (2017\/2020) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli (Inspector Montalbano) As always, the story opens with a dream. Head still numb with sleep, the inspector opened his eyes and immediately realized he was in bed. There was no Livia. She was at home, in Boccadasse. He\u2019d dreamt the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Safety Net","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/The-Safety-Net.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1574","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1574"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1574\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1574"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1574"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1574"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}